Steven C. Rockefeller

Steven C. Rockefeller "is professor emeritus of religion at Middlebury College, where he taught for 30 years and also served as dean of the College and chair of the religion department. He received his master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and his PH.D. in the philosophy of religion from Columbia University. He is the author of John Dewey: Religious Faith and Democratic Humanism (Columbia, 1991) and the co-editor of two books of essays, The Christ and the Bodhisattva (SUNY, 1987) and Sprit and Nature: Why the Environment is a Religious Issue (Beacon, 1992). His essays appear in a variety of books and journals. In recent years, much of his research and writing has focused on global ethics, sustainable development, and the interrelation of democracy, ecology, and spirituality.

"Over the past twelve years, Professor Rockefeller has played a leading role in the drafting and promotion of the Earth Charter. He chaired the Earth Charter international drafting committee. Following the launch of the Earth Charter in 2000, he was made a member of the Earth Charter Commission. He currently serves as co-chair of the Earth Charter International Council and as chair of Earth Charter Associates, Ltd., which has been set up to provide the ECI Council with financial and legal assistance. His essays on the history, structure, and purpose of the Earth Charter appear in many publications.

"Active in the field of philanthropy, Professor Rockefeller has served as a trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) for twenty-five years and chaired the Fund’s board of trustees from 1998 to 2006. The RBF is an international foundation with programmes on democratic practice, sustainable development, peace and security, and arts and culture. Over the past decade, Professor Rockefeller has served on of the Asian Cultural Council, the council of the University for Peace in Costa Rica, the Philanthropic Collaborative in New York City, and the Wendell Gilley Museum in Southwest Harbor, Main. He is a member of the High Level Advisory Panel at UNESCO for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, and he served as the moderator for the launch of the DESD at the UN Headquarters in New York City in 2005. In 1999, the Demeter Fund, of which he is the president, established the Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge in the Champlain Valley of Vermont in the US."


 * National Honorary Advisory Council, Council for America's First Freedom
 * Global Council on Planetary Ethics and Values, World Commission on Global Consciousness and Spirituality
 * Forum on Religion and Ecology: Advisory Board of Area Specialists for the Forum

His father is Nelson A. Rockefeller.